Admittedly I have never been much of a Natalie Portman fan. That being said, I think it was pretty ballsy of her taking on an American icon, and her work, particularly in trying to get Jackie's "breathless" voice, is commendable though NOT Oscar-worthy.
Just too many long camera shots - five minutes to watch her from behind walking through rooms of the White House...several times I caught myself yawning. The expressionless face of Billy Crudup as the interviewer - yawn again - and absolutely abysmal minor chords pretending to be a movie musical score, more jarring than anything on screen.
Having just watched The American Experience's terrific RFK documentary a week or so ago, I was struck by why the director would chose a fifty-something, tall, heavy-set actor to play a 34 or 35 year old slim-ish, not very tall Bobby Kennedy - the actor showing almost no emotion at all when Bobby was known to flair up, shout, and when moved, express his emotions.
The reason I give this a 3 instead of a 2 is the lovely performance by John Hurt as the priest. I did not recognize him until the last scene.
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